Whole house water filtration system to prevent MAC & NTM

Posted by yorkieyoli @yorkieyoli, 4 days ago

I've seen a lot of posts and comments about people replacing /cleaning shower heads, boiling water, or drinking only spring water. All this in effort to reduce NTM infections and exposure.
What are your thought on implementing a whole house water filtration system? Would this be effective for reducing exposure to MAC & NTM in shower heads and water?

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@cd33

I have given up on looking for a solution to the water in the house currently using bottled water as mentioned earlier and disinfecting shower head. Why? Because they say this mycobacteria is in the air in dust in everything we do. If we are susceptible to it we can get it from many sources. I feel I can drive myself nuts trying to avoid it so just have to do my best. I might invest on a kitchen top type reverse osmosis machine the cheaper option and wear masks when threatened by other scenarios. I will use the counter top water for washing veges etc too. Keep lungs healthy with exercise and airway clearance techniques! Best of luck to you all.

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Considering I understand what you have said above, my thoughts are: Have you had bouts with MAC infection(s) that your doctor(s) said required treatment? How long have you had Bronchiectasis? Have you been on the antibiotics for infections with BE?
I am boiling purified water to drink, however due to being away from my home this week I am not boiling it, hoping it will not prove to have been a negative for me.
I also just wash/rinse in the cold tap water due to all I have read that Dr. Falkingham has said and written. I also mask outside the house and sometimes when others are in my home with me.
Yes, keeping the lungs healthy with exercise and airway clearance techniques makes a big difference. Hope I will always be well enough and physically capable of keeping up with all we need to do.
Barbara

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@blm1007blm1007

Considering I understand what you have said above, my thoughts are: Have you had bouts with MAC infection(s) that your doctor(s) said required treatment? How long have you had Bronchiectasis? Have you been on the antibiotics for infections with BE?
I am boiling purified water to drink, however due to being away from my home this week I am not boiling it, hoping it will not prove to have been a negative for me.
I also just wash/rinse in the cold tap water due to all I have read that Dr. Falkingham has said and written. I also mask outside the house and sometimes when others are in my home with me.
Yes, keeping the lungs healthy with exercise and airway clearance techniques makes a big difference. Hope I will always be well enough and physically capable of keeping up with all we need to do.
Barbara

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Hi Barbara
I’m interested in what Dr Faulkner says? Is there a link to something I can read.
Yes to all your questions.
Lots of infections
Coughed up blood several times since 2019. Only started the Big 3 January this year!
Like you, this week have only drank bottled water not boiled as are on the road for 10 days.
Showered with shower heads in parks, very quickly. Life goes on, you can’t stop living.
Connie

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@cd33

Hi Barbara
I’m interested in what Dr Faulkner says? Is there a link to something I can read.
Yes to all your questions.
Lots of infections
Coughed up blood several times since 2019. Only started the Big 3 January this year!
Like you, this week have only drank bottled water not boiled as are on the road for 10 days.
Showered with shower heads in parks, very quickly. Life goes on, you can’t stop living.
Connie

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Connie- My understanding is that Dr. Joseph Falkingham is at Virginia Tech and is a microbiologist. He has a You Tube video called 'Reducing Exposure to Waterborne Pathogens.'
My understanding is that he answers emails from BE patients.
Sorry about "Lots of Infections" and hope you are doing O.K. on the Big 3 while on the road.
Barbara

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@blm1007blm1007

Connie- My understanding is that Dr. Joseph Falkingham is at Virginia Tech and is a microbiologist. He has a You Tube video called 'Reducing Exposure to Waterborne Pathogens.'
My understanding is that he answers emails from BE patients.
Sorry about "Lots of Infections" and hope you are doing O.K. on the Big 3 while on the road.
Barbara

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Thank you Barbara I will search and see if I can find info on Dr Falkingham! Cheers Connie

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@yorkieyoli

Thank you for this great info. It's very helpful to hear about reverse osmosis, and the criteria of the micron size. I have an estimate tomorrow with a company that does whole house filtration using reverse osmosis for drinking water, along with UV water filtration. I'm not sure if they'll know anything about NTM, but once I get the specs of their system, I'm hopeful I'll be able to figure it if that will help block NTM.

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Yorkieyoli
How did you go with your consultation about the whole house filtration?
Cheers Connie

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@acelaplace

From what I have read, the best options to keep NTM out of your kitchen and shower is to use a "point of service" .2 micron filter. An example is the Pall Filter. I have one installed on my kitchen sink as a "bar" faucet.

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Would you mind sharing a picture of it? Is it next to your "regular" faucet?

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@cd33

Yorkieyoli
How did you go with your consultation about the whole house filtration?
Cheers Connie

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I had a very interesting consultation that I think might actually work to stop NTM bacteria.
There is a whole house system called TipaTech. It's been around for many years in Europe, and is relatively new in the USA.
TipaTech is different to other systems in that it starves the pipes of oxygen. NTM are aerobic bacteria and they need oxygen to thrive - I guess that's why they like our lungs!
In addition they recommended UV Filtering which supposedly kills off any bacteria such as NTM. And then still a "no-smosis" type reverse osmosis at the sink that has a filtration capacity of 0.007 microns.
All in all, it sounds good, but its not like I can test it to see if there are NTM in my water. And it comes with a pretty big price tag.
I'm wondering if bottled water is the way to go but there seems to be so much controversy on that. I have no idea what to do!

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@minute22

Would you mind sharing a picture of it? Is it next to your "regular" faucet?

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No problem and yes.

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@acelaplace

No problem and yes.

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Thank you! I have a bar faucet that’s attached to an under sink filter (that doesn’t filter down to .02 microns, but filters out chlorine and other contaminants. I wonder if I could attach this to this faucet and have both filters working.

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@minute22

Thank you! I have a bar faucet that’s attached to an under sink filter (that doesn’t filter down to .02 microns, but filters out chlorine and other contaminants. I wonder if I could attach this to this faucet and have both filters working.

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I think so. You can ask the representative of the company their advice.

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